The Brother He Never Had
by Bobo88
Summary: Taylor Lautner moves back to his original hometown in Michigan after his acting career fizzles. He meets a new girl that he hopes will be his girlfriend, but what happens when her younger brother needs Taylor more than she does?
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: If I get at least five reviews/comments on this first chapter, I'll continue the story.**_

It had been an interesting few months for seventeen-year-old Taylor Lautner. He had gone from one of Hollywood's newest teen heartthrobs to being an ordinary high school junior from Grand Rapids, Michigan. He had starred in several motion pictures, lent his voice talents to many animated features and had a black belt in martial arts, but he still felt largely unsatisfied with his life. Even though he had experienced a life of stardom that most young people, and most people for that matter, would have killed to achieve, he couldn't help feeling as though he had missed out on a normal teenage existence. In fact, Taylor considered it somewhat of a blessing when he failed to get the role of Jacob Black in New Moon because it meant that he and his family could move back to Michigan and he could once again be in more familiar surroundings. As he sat there on a steep embankment in an empty ball field tossing his baseball from hand to hand on that cool spring afternoon in March, it finally occurred to Taylor what he had been lacking all these years: a true friend.

"Wanna play catch?" a soft, feminine voice asked.

He looked up and saw a very attractive sandy-haired girl about his age. She was tall and slender and was attired in a pink sleeveless button-down blouse and denim miniskirt, both of which accentuated her gorgeous shape. What drew his attention however were her striking crystal clear blue eyes. Taylor was so taken aback by her beauty that it took him a few seconds to respond.

"Sure," he finally said. "What's your name?"

"Melissa. Melissa Hall." she responded. "And you're Taylor Lautner."

"You know me?" he blushed.

"Of course!" she laughed. "I have all kinds of pictures and magazine articles about you. I'm totally Team Jacob. I'm just sorry you didn't get the part in New Moon."

"Thanks," he said. "It actually feels good to be back in my old neighborhood though. Now let's play."

As they tossed the baseball back and forth, Melissa continued to ask questions about his career. Normally, Taylor would have gotten annoyed with such questions, but he felt so honored to be receiving such attention from a girl as pretty as Melissa that he answered them without a second thought. In spite of having young girls and grown women lusting after shirtless magazine centerfolds of him, he never saw himself as anything other than average-looking. To him, having captured Melissa's attention was a major milestone in and of itself. His sudden boost of self-esteem was abruptly ended when he saw a boy a few years younger than himself walking with his head down on the opposite end of the field, right in the path of the baseball he had just thrown!

"Look out!" he screamed. The boy looked up, but it was too late. The ball caught the boy on the left shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

"Oh my God!" Taylor cried out as he ran to the boy's aid.

"Patrick!" Melissa scolded the boy. "Didn't you see us playing ball? You should have been watching what you were doing!"

"You know him?" Taylor asked her as he knelt down beside the boy.

"He's my brother," she grumbled. "And I told him to be more careful when I'm playing ball."

"Don't worry, it was just an accident," Taylor reminded her as he turned his attention to Patrick. "Where does it hurt?"

"My shoulder," Patrick sighed as he pointed to his left collarbone.

Taylor gently lowered Patrick's shirt collar to inspect the damage. His collarbone was bright red and sore to the touch.

"We need to get some ice on that," he said matter-of-factly. "I'll go to the ice machine at the 7-Eleven down the street and get you some. I'll be right back."

He left and headed in the direction of the nearby 7-Eleven. As he arrived at the ice machine and began filling a small Styrofoam cup with ice cubes, something about Patrick tugged at his heart. Perhaps it was because Patrick closely resembled him with his tanned complexion, dark hair and eyes and slightly wide nose. Perhaps it was because Patrick seemed shy and a little frightened, just like Taylor used to be when he was a little younger. Whatever it was, Taylor knew that he and Melissa's brother were going to be more than just casual acquaintances who met during a baseball mishap.

As he returned to the park, he saw Melissa still reprimanding Patrick for getting hit with the ball.

"I'm so sorry for this," he apologized as he gently placed the ice-filled cup to Patrick's injured shoulder.

"It's okay," Patrick sighed.

"Well, we should probably be going," Melissa said. "Here's my number,"

She took a pen out of her pocket and scribbled her phone number onto Taylor's palm.

"Call me and maybe we'll do something this Friday night," she said with a smile as she and Patrick turned to leave.

Taylor smiled back as he headed toward his car. What an interesting afternoon this had been. He met a beautiful girl and may have even had a date scheduled this coming Friday! But one thing bothered him; why couldn't he stop thinking about Patrick?


	2. Chapter 2

As Taylor drove home from the park, he had a sinking feeling inside about Melissa and her brother. He kept trying to convince himself that it was just guilt over having accidentally hit Patrick with the baseball, but he knew that wasn't what bothered him. It was Melissa's incessant scolding of Patrick after the incident. It didn't seem to be out of concern that she was upset; she appeared to almost be blaming her brother for having been with her at the park in the first place. And something told him that Melissa's outburst at the park was nothing compared to what might be in store for Patrick once they got home. He tried without success to put the whole matter out of his mind as he pulled into his driveway and entered his front door.

"Hi, honey," his mother Debbie greeted him. "How was school?"

"Fine," he answered as if nothing was bothering him. "I'll be upstairs doing my homework."

"Okay," she responded.

Taylor entered his room and flopped onto his bed. He tried to immerse himself in his Spanish homework, but somehow, studying the differences and similarities between Latin American Spanish and European Spanish didn't capture his interest today. He sighed and laid his head down on his textbook.

"Are you okay?" a voice from the doorway asked. It was his younger sister, Makena.

"Hey, Makena," he said as he lifted his head to face her. "I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all."

"About what?" she wanted to know as she sat next to him on his bed.

He went on to tell her the whole story about meeting Melissa and getting her number and how Patrick got hurt.

"And when I was leaving, she was still yelling at him for getting in the way of my pitch," he concluded.

"She doesn't sound like your type," Makena told him. "She sounds like she has a temper."

"Maybe she was just having a bad day," he tried to rationalize. "I think I will take her out on Friday."

"Okay," she said as she left his room. "Oh, and Taylor?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful with this one." she smiled as she walked down the hall.

He laughed to himself to think that his little sister had his back no matter what. The next day, he ran into Melissa at school and she accepted his offer to go out to dinner that Friday night. The days leading up to their date seemed to drag along. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Friday night finally arrived and Taylor drove to the address Melissa had given him.

He knocked on the door of the big mansion that resembled something out of "Desperate Housewives", hoping that Patrick would answer. Instead, he was greeted by Melissa, who was attired in a red halter-style dress with an empire waist and matching red spiked heels.

"You look beautiful," he gasped.

"Thanks," she answered. "You look pretty handsome yourself. Come in and you can meet my parents."

She led him to the kitchen where an attractive dark-haired couple in their late forties or early fifties were sitting.

"Taylor, these are my parents, Dave and Teresa," she said. "Mom and Dad, this is Taylor Lautner. And I believe you already know Patrick."

Taylor looked into the living room and saw Patrick sitting on the couch in an almost trance-like state, which only added to his concern.

"I have to go finish putting on my makeup," Melissa said. "I'll be ready in a few minutes."

Taylor nodded and she went upstairs.

"Make yourself at home," Teresa told him.

He sat down the couch next to Patrick and attempted to start a conversation.

"Hi, Patrick," he said cheerfully. Finally, Patrick turned to face him. Taylor could tell by looking at him that he had been crying.

"H-hi," the boy managed to respond in a barely-audible voice.

"How's your shoulder?" Taylor wanted to know.

"Still sore," Patrick sighed. Taylor knew there was something on this young man's mind that he was too afraid to discuss.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked. "It's okay, you can tell me."

"I was in a fight at school today," Patrick finally admitted. "Two guys jumped me."

"What?" Taylor was shocked. "Are you hurt?"

"I have a few bruises, but I'll be okay," he said as his eyes began to moisten. "I'm used to it."

"This happens a lot, doesn't it?" Taylor asked, knowing what the answer would be.

Patrick nodded and began sobbing.

"The kids are always so rotten to me," he wailed.

"Don't you at least have some friends?" Taylor asked. Patrick shook his head.

"Well, now you have me," Taylor smiled.

"You mean it?" Patrick seemed skeptical. "I've had people say that so many times, but they always turned out to be lying."

Before Taylor could promise Patrick his unconditional friendship, Melissa appeared. Again, she seemed angry with her brother.

"Patrick, have you been crying and whining to Taylor?" she snapped. "Taylor doesn't want to hear your problems."

"Yeah, but did you know that he…" Taylor tried to defend Patrick.

"I know he was beat up today, just like any other day," Melissa interrupted. "He's been bitching about it since he got home. Now come on, I'm ready to go."

With that, she practically dragged Taylor out the door with her. As they were driving to the restaurant, he realized that it wasn't his imagination; Patrick _was_ in need of help. He went to school every day where he faced violence and cruelty and instead of receiving support from his older sister when he got home, she only continued to beat him up with words. Taylor was determined to help Patrick in any way possible. The teen years are especially difficult for everyone, but he knew first-hand that having no close friends made it that much harder. He wouldn't let Patrick slip through the cracks. Even if his own family didn't love him, Taylor could.


	3. Chapter 3

Taylor and Melissa pulled up to a small Italian restaurant with an outdoor dining area. He was hoping she wouldn't be as rude to the waiters and waitresses as she was to Patrick. They were seated at a small table outside that was slightly apart from the other tables where they were given menus and placed their drink orders.

"I thought about this date all week," Melissa said as she scanned her menu. "I mean, I can't believe I'm here with Taylor Lautner!"

Taylor smiled as he locked eyes with her. Her temper, for now at least, had subsided. After they ordered their food, he tried to steer the conversation to something positive to keep her in a good mood.

"So what do you do when you're not at school?" he asked.

"I'm a cheerleader," she enthused. "Speaking of which, the other girls on the squad are gonna be really jealous when they find out that I'm dating Jacob Black!"

Taylor laughed as the waitress brought them their dinner. It never ceased to amaze him how many people believed that he really was Jacob from the Twilight series. Eventually, however, their small talk turned to Patrick.

"It was nice of you to sit and talk to Patrick while I was getting ready," Melissa said. "You really didn't have to,"

"No, I like Patrick," Taylor replied. "It's just such a shame he got jumped at school today."

"It happens a lot," she explained. "And trust me, if you knew him, it wouldn't come as such a shock."

"What are you talking about?" he inquired suspiciously. "He's your brother."

"He wasn't planned," she replied casually as if she was simply announcing the time of day. "My parents never really wanted him. He just gets in the way all the time. Always with his nose in a book. Do you know that he's almost fifteen and he's never had a girlfriend?"

"So?" he retorted somewhat defensively. He had never heard someone so openly berate another person, much less their own flesh and blood sibling. It made his blood run cold.

"Don't you think that's a little odd?" she wanted to know. "It sounds a little…gay."

"I didn't have a girlfriend at fourteen either and I'm not gay," Taylor said, by now making no secret of the fact that he was getting ticked off.

"But you played sports and did martial arts, so you had an excuse," she told him. "Patrick just sits around on his ass and watches TV and reads books! Why the hell are you defending him?"

By now, a few people were beginning to stare.

"Look, can we just not talk about my brother now?" she whispered at him.

Taylor, as angry as he was for the way she talked about Patrick, agreed and changed the subject. The rest of their date went on uneventfully as did the drive back to Melissa's house. When they enter through her front door however, Patrick was still sitting in the same spot on the sofa, his eyes red and swollen from crying. Forgetting Melissa was even there, Taylor instinctively sat down next to him and gave him a hug.

"What the hell are you doing?" Melissa fumed. "You're supposed to be hugging me, not my brother!"

"Do you think you could be a little more supportive of him?" Taylor asked pleadingly. "Hasn't he been through enough?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that he brings it on himself?" she thundered.

"No, he doesn't!" Taylor shot back. "And if you ask me, the biggest problem with Patrick isn't the kids at school, it's you! If this is the way you treat people, I want nothing to do with you!"

"Then get out!" she ordered.

Taylor was about to leave when Melissa and Patrick's mother and father came downstairs.

"What the hell is going on down here?" Teresa demanded to know. "Patrick, did you screw up another one of your sister's dates?"

"No, he didn't," Taylor explained. "Your daughter ruined our date by constantly putting down your son. You should've heard the things she said about Patrick."

"Don't let Patrick get to you with all that crap about getting beat up at school," Dave told Taylor. "He just wants attention."

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?" Taylor screamed. "People like you shouldn't even have kids!"

"Excuse me?" Teresa replied.

"There is no excuse for you or you behavior!" he retorted, shocked at his own daring to criticize these people's parenting skills after having only met them hours earlier. He took out a pen and slip of paper from his pocket and quickly scribbled down his cell and home number and handed it to Patrick.

"If you ever need me for anything, don't hesitate to call me anytime," he told him. Then he calmly left.

That night, he could hardly sleep. He was just about to get up and watch some late night TV when his cell phone rang.

"Hello?" he said, having no clue as to who would be trying to contact him at such a late hour.

"Taylor?" It was Patrick and he was crying.

"Patrick? Where are you?"

"I'm at home. My parents are fighting again and they told me they hated me. Can you pick me up please?"

"I'll be right over," Taylor said as he put on a pair of jeans and his slippers and headed out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Taylor drove to Melissa and Patrick's house, having no idea what to expect. As he pulled up to their address, he saw Patrick sitting out on the front steps with his head in his hands. The minute he saw Taylor, he ran over to him and threw his arms around him, his body quivering uncontrollably. **

"**What happened?" Taylor asked. "Are you okay?"**

"**My parents are arguing again," Patrick said. "They told me to get out. I'm so sorry to call you at this hour, but I didn't know who else to call. I have nowhere to go!"**

"**You're staying with me tonight," Taylor said without a second thought. "Let's go in and your clothes and stuff."**

**For the first time, Patrick actually smiled, albeit only slightly. As they walked through the front door, Teresa and Dave were still engaged in a screaming match. When they saw the boys, however, they abruptly stopped.**

"**What the hell is this?" Dave yelled. "Why are you here at one o'clock in the morning?"**

"**Don't you dare think you're going to see Melissa at this hour!" Teresa added.**

"**Please, I don't want any trouble," Taylor said gently. "I just think Patrick would be better off staying with me tonight."**

"**Good! We're sick of him anyway!" Dave shouted. "Patrick, go pack your shit and get out!"**

**With that, Patrick went up to his room to get his overnight bag. While he was upstairs, his parents began grilling Taylor.**

"**What do you want with my son?" Teresa asked suspiciously as she eyed him up and down. "Why are you so concerned about him?"**

"**Because you aren't," Taylor said with hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You don't love him."**

"**If we didn't love him, we wouldn't keep a roof over his head and clothes on his back," Dave insisted, completely missing Taylor's point.**

**By this time, Melissa had come downstairs to see what all the commotion was about. She was shocked to see Taylor.**

"**What are you doing here?" she demanded to know.**

"**Patrick called me," he told her. "He's staying at my house tonight until you people can get your act together and give him the love and attention he deserves!"**

"**I just told you we love him," Dave barked.**

"**Keeping a roof over his head and clothes on his back isn't raising a child," Taylor explained. "That's just maintaining one. You spoil Melissa rotten and Patrick just gets whatever is left, which is more than likely nothing."**

**Just then, Patrick returned with his bag in tow and he headed out the door. **

"**So, you think you can give him the kind of lifestyle that he has in this house?" Teresa asked. "My husband and I are C.E.O.'s. We make a few hundred thousand each year."**

"**This has nothing to do with money," Taylor said. "Big deal, you give Patrick expensive gifts. But do those gifts love him? Do they hug him? Do they support him? No."**

**They left and drove back to Taylor's house. Patrick was silent the whole time. When they entered his home, his mother was waiting up for him.**

"**Where did you go?" she asked impatiently. When she saw Patrick, however, she figured out that he must have been Melissa's brother that Taylor had told her about.**

"**I'm sorry," Taylor apologized. "But Patrick needed me. His parents were fighting and they threw him out."**

"**That's terrible," she said. "How about if you two guys camp out in the living room tonight?"**

**Patrick nodded while Taylor went upstairs to the linen closet to get some sheets for the two living room sofas. When he came back, he saw Patrick sitting on the sofa staring at a piece of paper.**

"**What's that?" he asked. **

"**My report card," Patrick sighed. **

**Taylor sat down next to him and looked at it. He was amazed. Somehow, in spite of the abuse he encountered at school and at home, Patrick had straight A's. **

"**This is great!" he said cheerfully in an attempt to make the boy feel a little better.**

"**I wish the school thought so," Patrick grumbled. "If you're not athletic, you're nobody."**

"**But you're so smart," Taylor said. "They have to have some award or something for academic achievement."**

"**All they have is a quote-unquote gifted program," Patrick explained sarcastically. "The kids and the teachers in it are some of the most obnoxious people in the world! The only thing worse than the gifted kids are the jocks!"**

"**Do they pick on you too?" Taylor asked. He could tell that Patrick couldn't keep his anger bottled up anymore.**

"**Yeah, and they get to do whatever the hell they want!" he complained. "The rules say you have to maintain at least a C average in order to remain on any of the school's teams. Well, the quarterback on the football team is in a few of my classes and he's failing them all. But has he been removed from the team? NO! He gets a letterman's jacket! Where is my letterman's jacket for going to school and getting my ass beat every day and still making the honor roll?!?"**

**With that, he started crying. Taylor held him and tried to calm him down. **

"**You just don't understand, Taylor," Patrick said.**

"**Yes, I do," Taylor responded. "I understand more than you think I do."**


	5. Chapter 5

"**What?" Patrick replied as he pulled away from Taylor's hug and abruptly stopped crying. "What do you mean?"**

"**I used to get bullied too when I was younger," Taylor explained. "Everything you go through, I did too."**

**Patrick's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe that Taylor Lautner, the actor that girls loved and guys, himself included, wanted to be, was once a victim of school bullying. **

"**Kids used to beat you up too?" he asked in disbelief.**

**Taylor nodded. His eyes were beginning to well up with tears and in a sudden role reversal, Patrick now put his arm around Taylor to comfort him. **

"**That's the first time I ever really admitted it out loud," he sighed. "And it felt good."**

"**I never would have thought **_**you**_** would've been picked on at school," Patrick said in amazement.**

"**It can happen to anybody, just like any other kind of abuse," Taylor told him. "I've been punched, kicked, tripped, spit on, you name it. It destroyed me. And I love you too much to let that happen to you too."**

"**You love me?" Patrick exclaimed. "Nobody has ever said that to me before."**

"**I've only known you for about a week, but I feel like you're my brother." Taylor responded as he patted him on the back gently so as not to irritate his wounds from his beating at school that day.**

"**I think it's time to go bed now," he added.**

**They both made up their beds on the sofas. As Taylor was getting ready to lay down, he noticed what looked like a small card on the floor. He picked it up and it turned out to be a picture of a very attractive brunette about Patrick's age. Patrick noticed Taylor examining the photo and quickly snatched it out of his hand. **

"**That's mine," he said nervously as he blushed bright red.**

"**What's her name?" Taylor chuckled.**

"**Amy Clark," Patrick sighed. "She's in my Spanish class."**

"**I take it you like her," Taylor teased. "The feeling must be mutual. Otherwise, she wouldn't have given you her picture."**

"**But I get so nervous around her," Patrick complained. "Actually, I'm nervous around people in general, but even more so with Amy."**

"**I still get nervous around people too sometimes," Taylor admitted. "Do you know where she hangs out on weekends?"**

"**At the mall. Why?"**

"**You and I may have to do a little shopping tomorrow," he laughed.**

"**Oh no, I couldn't." Patrick protested. "Can't I just admire her from afar?"**

"**You could," Taylor said. "But wouldn't you rather at least find out what you might be missing?"**

"**Fine," Patrick relented.**

**As they laid there trying to go to sleep, Taylor couldn't help but laugh to himself. He had just lost his girlfriend, and yet he planned on helping his girlfriend's brother to get a girl of his own. He wondered if he could pull it off, or if this experience would force Patrick even deeper into his shell.**

"**Only one way to find out," he mumbled under his breath just before he nodded off.**


	6. Chapter 6

The mall was a flurry of activity when Taylor and Patrick arrived there the next morning. Normally, such a large crowd of kids his own age would have frightened Patrick a little, but with Taylor by his side, he felt much more at ease. They spent much of the day buying clothes and looking at shoes. At one point, Taylor saw a set of hockey equipment in the display window of a sporting goods store.

"Wow," he exclaimed. "Hey, Patrick. Look at these nice hockey sticks."

"Yeah, those are nice," Patrick replied, with obviously insincere interest.

"You don't like them, do you?" Taylor asked.

"Well, um…" Patrick struggled. "I…don't….really like sports…at all."

"Okay," Taylor said nonchalantly. Patrick was stunned by his reaction, or lack thereof.

"You're not mad?" he asked in utter disbelief.

"Mad at somebody for not liking sports?" Taylor laughed. "So you don't like sports. Not everybody does."

"I just figured you'd think I was gay or something," he said softly. "That's what everybody tells me at school. And it's mostly because I don't play or watch sports."

"I'm not those kids at school," Taylor explained. "I would never hurt you, either physically or emotionally. And even if you were gay, that wouldn't make me stop being your friend."

"Thanks," Patrick said with a slight smile. He began to believe more and more that Taylor had come into his life for a very special reason.

They stopped for lunch at a McDonald's. Halfway through the meal, Patrick suddenly became very quiet.

"What's wrong?" Taylor wanted to know.

"It's those kids at that table over there," Patrick said as he gestured to two boys, apparently brothers, eating with their mom a few booths away. "They beat me up all the time. And I can hear them talking about us right now."

Taylor listened carefully and sure enough, he heard the boys making sexual slurs regarding himself and Patrick.

"Do you want me to say something to them?" he asked Patrick.

"No, you can't!" Patrick said adamantly. "I don't want you getting hurt because of me."

"Are you sure?"

Patrick nodded.

They went on eating when they both heard something shocking coming from the other table.

"Yeah, they _do_ look like a cute couple of fags," the boys' mother agreed.

Taylor looked at Patrick and saw his eyes filling with tears. His heart broke. There was no question, he _had_ to stand up for his friend. It was bad enough that the kids made fun of him, but their mother deciding to join in the "fun" was the last straw. He calmly walked over to their table.

"Hello," he greeted them. "I'm Taylor Lautner and my best friend Patrick Hall and I are sitting right over there. We heard some comments made that we don't appreciate. Now, what you say about me is one thing. But when you bring Patrick into it, that's when I get mad."

"Oh, well," one boy said dismissively.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not actually mad at you two," Taylor explained. "I pity you."

"Why?" the other boy asked.

"Because you have a mother who taught you disrespect people without having the nerve to say it to someone's face," Taylor snapped. "If you have something to say to Patrick or me, you say to our face and not behind our backs, you cow! And if you don't have anything to say, just do the world a favor by sitting there and shutting up! Because one day, you'll say something to the wrong person and they won't hesitate to knock you on your ass!"

Clearly intimidated, the mother and her sons grabbed their food and made a hasty retreat from the restaurant. Taylor looked over at Patrick, whose mouth was hanging open in shock.

"Nobody ever stood up for me like that," he gasped.

"I'll always stand up for you," Taylor told him.

They finished their lunch and went back out into the mall.

"Oh my God!" Patrick exclaimed. "There's Amy."

"Go over and say hello," Taylor suggested.

"I couldn't!" he protested. "I'm too embarrassed!"

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Taylor said. "You are a nice, smart, good-looking guy that any girl would dream of having. Besides, how do you know Amy doesn't feel just as nervous around you as you do around her?"

He has a point, Patrick thought.

"Just go over and talk to her," Taylor encouraged. "I'll wait over here so you two can have a little privacy."

Patrick nodded and walked over to Amy. Taylor couldn't hear what was being said, but their body language spoke volumes. Amy gestured for Patrick to sit down net to her on the bench. They were soon engaged in conversation. Not wanting to draw attention to himself in case either one of them looked over in his direction, Taylor pretended to be looking at some shoes in the window of Payless, occasionally glancing over to check Patrick's progress. At one point, he saw something that made his whole day; Patrick laughing. It was nice to see him let down his guard a little bit and have fun. After about fifteen minutes, Amy left and he went over to see how things went.

"You were right!" Patrick beamed. "She said she saw me too, but she was too nervous say anything to me!

"Told you!" Taylor chuckled.

"You're so nice to me," Patrick said. "I wish you were my brother."

"You know, a brother doesn't _have_ to be a blood relative," Taylor explained. "Even in the short time I've known you, I think of you as my brother."

Patrick smiled. As he was about to give Taylor a friendly hug, he dropped the piece of paper with Amy's number on it.

"Wow! You talked to her for fifteen minutes and you already got her number!" Taylor exclaimed. "You're good!"

Patrick bent down to pick it up. As he stood up, he suddenly felt light-headed and grabbed onto Taylor's arm to keep his balance.

"Are you alright?" Taylor asked. "You look a little pale."

"Yeah," Patrick sighed as they sat down on the bench. "It just happens sometimes. I get dizzy if I bend over or kneel down."

This didn't sound good at all to Taylor.

"Patrick, do you have high blood pressure?" he asked directly.

"Yeah," Patrick panted. "It kind of runs in my family. I'm supposed to be on medication for it, but my parents complain it costs too much. So I basically have to live with the dizzy spells."

As he held Patrick clammy hand, Taylor was both angry and concerned. Angry because Patrick's parents were anything but poor, so there was no rhyme or reason as to why their son should be without necessary medications. Concerned because Patrick's high blood pressure combined with all the stress that he dealt with at school and at home meant that he was in more danger than Taylor ever could have realized.


End file.
